EghtesadOnline: The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration has turned in its best-ever midyear profit during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22), according to a report published on its website on Sunday.

IRICA brought in a total revenue of 108 trillion rials ($776.97 million) in the six-month period out of import tax and duties, including letters of guarantee it received from importers.

H1 revenues stood at 73.4 trillion rials ($528.05 million) without counting in letters of guarantee, despite a nearly 13% decline in imports and the government’s ban on imports of 1,400 consumer goods, particularly cars, according to Financial Tribune.

Upgrading customs monitoring systems and equipment, installing electronic systems and improving the performance of customs staff across the country are the main reasons behind the significant growth in IRICA’s revenues, the report said.

A total of 16.22 million tons of non-oil goods worth $22.18 billion were imported into Iran in H1, down by more than 9% in weight and 12% in value over last year’s similar period.

The imports mainly included auto parts ($978 million accounting for 4% of total imports), rice ($964 million accounting for 4% of total imports), field corn ($961 million accounting for 4% of total imports), soybeans ($705 million accounting for 3% of total imports) and graphite electrodes used in furnaces ($287 million accounting for 1% of total imports).

Major exporters to Iran during the period included China with $5.5 billion (25% of the value of Iran’s total exports), the UAE with $3.15 billion (14% of Iran’s total imports), South Korea with $1.43 billion (more than 6% of Iran’s total imports), India with $1.37 billion (more than 6% of Iran’s total imports) and Germany with $1.17 billion (more than 5% of Iran’s total imports).

H1 imports from all these countries declined compared with the similar period of last year. Imports from China dropped by 4%, those from the UAE fell by 30%, South Korea 17%, India more than 2% and imports from Germany declined by 14%.

The average price of each ton of imported commodities hovered around $1,368 in H1, down 3% year-on-year.